Youngsters 'want advice about privacy'
- Fri, 4 Sep 2009
- Comments (2)
A report from industry watchdog Ofcom has found that young people in the UK want clear advice about how to keep their personal data safe.
Fifty-four per cent of 11- to 16-year-olds in the UK surveyed by Ofcom said youngsters need advice about how to keep their personal information online private.
Concerns over passwords, PIN codes, cyberbullying and inappropriate content on the web were foremost in the minds of respondents, Ofcom said.
And a worrying 23 per cent of seven- to 16-year-olds said that no one had ever talked to them seriously about online privacy and security.
Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom is required to promote media literacy in the UK and this research will be used towards these efforts, the regulator said.
Ofcom's report comes on the back of claims that Britain is the worst nation in Europe for keeping anti-virus software up to date and that many of us are risking our security by using the same password for every site we visit.
Earlier this week, a report from security firm Symantec said that many Brits were putting their jobs and online security at risk, due to the nature of the content they post on social-networking sites.
Comments
Latest comments
September 04 16:54
Carl Barron
Regardless as to whither you are young or old your personal security should be the foremost important area to maintain, the following will help:
Always use passwords with a mix of letters and at least one or more numbers. You should keep all personal passwords and user names including files and folders on a separate USB Hard Drive or even use relatively inexpensive USB Pen drives to ensure that if your PC breaks down or is lost or stolen your sensitive and financial data is secure. Frequently virus scan your pen drives before linking to any business network.
Never leave your passwords on your PC even in an encrypted folder as they can be decrypted fairly easily. All of the above is particularly important in protecting the company you may work for by simply applying this method.
September 06 16:48
TomBeasley
I'm 14 years old, so exactly the kind of person this issue covers. Recently, I have been through all of my accounts on various websites and ensured that they each have a unique, yet memorable password. Job done!